Improvement in running-gear of railroad-cars



J. H. DEN NIS.

Car Axle.

No. 34,134. Patented Jan. 14, I862.

lnventon Witnesses:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J. H. DENNIS, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

IMPROVEMENT IN RUNNING-GEAR OF RAILROAD-CARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 34,134, dated January 14, 1862.

To a whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J. H. DENNIS, of Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Running-Gear of Railroad-Cars and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being bad to the 1 accompanying drawing, making a part of this specification, and being a vertical section on the line of the axles of the lower portion of a car with my improvement.

The nature of the invention consists, first, in a compound journal-box of peculiar construction affording both bearing and connection for the adjacent ends of a divided axle; second, in an automatic lubricating device of new and improved construction.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A A represent portions of the car or truck.

13 B are two wheels secured to separate axles C C, working in line. The inner or central journals 0 c of the said axles run in bearings D l') in a journal-box E, working in a pedestal F. The journals are secured against endwise displacement in one direction by means of collars (3 upon the journals and flanges (Z on the bearings and in the other direction by the ends bearing one against the other or against a plate, which may be interposed between them, if desired.

G is a short tube projecting upward from the journal-box.

II is an oil-reservoir, which may be applied over the journal-box or in any other convenient position.

I is a tube secured with its upper end within the reservoir H and extending down through the bottom of the same and within the tube G.

J represents a wick coiled at the bottom of the reservoir H and passed up over a bar K within the same and down through the tube I. A quantity of oil being placed in the reservoir H, it rises gradually by capillary attraction, and, passing down the wick within the tube on the principle of the siphon, supplies the journals constantly with oil.

L is a screw by means of which the wick may be compressed upon the bar K, as required, to regulate the quantity of oil passed or stop it altogether. A constant supply of oil may thus be applied to the journals just as fast as it is used, and when the car is not in use the screw may be turned down, so as to stop the supply entirely, thus avoiding waste in all cases.

M is a tube by which oil may be introduced to the reservoir H. The said tube may extend to the top of the car or any other accessible point. In the present illustration the said tube is represented as constituting one of the supports of the car-top.

I do not confine myself to any particular arrangement of the devices for containing and supplying the oil. They may be located in any part of the car Where they will accomplish the objects stated. A similar provision may, if desired, be employed to lubricate the outer or side journals of the axles.

The arrangement of the springs of both the central and side bearings is essentially similar to that described in my patent of November 26, 1861, the relative rigidity of the springs being regulated in accordance with the respective distances of the bearings from the wheels. The present invention, however, is not restricted to any specific form or arrangement of springs, but may be used in connection with any. By making the tube sufficiently small the wick may be dispensed with, and in this case the tube may be bent in siphon form; but I prefer to use the wick, applied as hereinbefore explained.

The tube I may, if preferred, play through an aperture in the box, the tube Gr being dispensed with; or, in like manner, the tube I may be fixed in the box E and play through an aperture in any part of the reservoir H; or the tube I may be made flexible and its respective ends fixed in both the box and reservoir. These and various other modifications may be made without departing from the essential principles of the invention.

\Vhen the tube M is not required to support the top of the car, it may be entirely dispensed with, and in any case the oil may be introduced to the reservoir through the aperture in which the screw L works, or in any other convenient place.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a divided axle O in the manner explained to supply the jour C or two axles working in line, of a compound nails automatically with oil and COIllliOl the journal-box E, constructed and adapted, subflow thereof as may be required. stantially as herein shown and explained, to

afford both bearings and connection to the J. H. DENNIS. adjacent ends of the said axles. Witnesses:

2. The combination of the wick H, tube I, OCTAVIUS KNIGHT,

and clamping-screw L, employed substantially E. M. SMITH. 

